Rising ‘Bachelor’ boosts ABC

NBC's 'Harry's Law' continues to hold up well

ABC prevailed in demos Monday behind season highs for “The Bachelor,” while CBS was competitive with its all-repeat lineup led by “Two and a Half Men” and NBC has reason to be pleased with consistently solid newbie “Harry’s Law.”

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, “The Bachelor” averaged a 3.2 rating/8 share in adults 18-49 and 9.5 million viewers overall from 8 to 10 p.m., building 10% week to week in the demo and winning each half-hour. The net then stayed competitive in the 10 o’clock hour with a repeat of “Castle” (1.7/5 in 18-49, 6.3 million viewers overall).

At NBC, “Chuck” (1.7/5 in 18-49, 5.6 million viewers overall) and “The Cape” (1.5/4 in 18-49, 5.3 million viewers overall) may have hit season lows, but 10 p.m. drama “Harry’s Law” held steady (2.1/6 in 18-49, 10.9 million viewers overall), winning its hour in 18-49 and 25-54 (3.0/7) over repeat dramas on ABC and CBS and ruling the time period in total viewers for a third straight week. The hold from week one to week three for the Kathy Bates-fronted series — down just one-tenth of a ratings point in 18-49 — reps the best for any Big Four first-year drama this season; next week will be a bigger test, as “Castle” and CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0″ return to originals.

CBS, a close second to ABC on the night in 18-49, 25-54 and total viewers, earned good numbers for its repeat comedy lineup of “How I Met Your Mother” (2.5/7 in 18-49, 7.4 million viewers overall), “Rules of Engagement” (2.5/7 in 18-49, 7.4 million viewers overall), “Two and a Half Men” (3.1/8 in 18-49, 11.2 million viewers overall) and “Mike and Molly” (2.4/6 in 18-49, 9.1 million viewers overall). “Men” — whose lead Charlie Sheen has been in the headlines this week — stood as the night’s No. 1 show in both 25-54 (4.2/10) and total viewers. Closing things out was a repeat of “Hawaii Five-0″ (1.8/5 in 18-49, 6.9 million viewers overall).

Fox placed third on the night in 18-49 (and first among men 18-49) with its lineup of a special firstrun episode of “Human Target” (2.1/6 in 18-49, 7.8 million viewers overall), which hit a season high, and the season finale of “Lie to Me” (2.2/5 in 18-49, 7.1 million viewers overall), which was down a bit from its season high of the previous week when it followed the stronger “House.” Next week, “House” returns, followed by the series debut of cop drama “Chicago Code.”

CW aired original episodes of “90210” (0.8/2 in 18-49, 1.8 million viewers overall) and “Gossip Girl” (0.8/2 in 18-49, 1.5 million viewers overall), both down a tick in 18-49 from the winter premieres of last week.